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shared care at the gp's to end

Posted By samo

"shared care at the gp's to end"

About: Bolton PCT

(as a service user),

I have been in shared care for a few years at my gp's with a key worker also seeing me every so often from the drug and alchol service. I am really distressed and upset that the goverment have stopped shared care.

I think it has helped me alot, basically I've been off drugs/alcohol for over 5 years and I didnt like mixing with other users at the drug and alcohol service so i went into shared care.

I'ts really good for people who have come so far in life because nobody can judge you as nobody knows your business when you go and see your gp, but when you go to the drug and alcohol service everybody knows your business and it makes you feel like your back on that bad road again and around temptation.

I really think people need to come together and talk about shared care and put there point over to people because i think its really disgusting how shared care can be taken away out of service when its helped so many people thats had problems making them alot better. I think when shared care is such a big part of someones life it shouldn't be taken away because they isn't enough funding to keep it going and there should of been something in place in case shared care did get stopped.

Now the people that have done so well, like me, to make a difference in my life have to go back to drug and alcohol service to see a drug worker and mix with all them people who are still on drugs and its not very nice.

I really hope writing this letter will be put across to someone that can actually do something about the issue that ive stated and hopefully for something to be done about it because if things keep going on the way there are people that have come so far in life and made them self clean with the support from shared care are going to go straight back down the wrong road again

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Responses

Response from Patient Opinion 12 years ago
Patient Opinion

Submitted on 20/04/2012 at 12:33
Published on Care Opinion at 12:36

Response submitted by Patient Opinion on behalf of Sandie Saunders Bolton Commissioning Manager

Thank you for taking the time and trouble to present your view about the ending of Shared Care services in Bolton. This has been a local decision and not a decision made by the Government. The PCT informed the GPs in December 2011 that the agreements with them would end as of 31st March 2012.

This does not mean that you have to go back to the building which is the main drug service (Bentley House) in order to pick up your prescriptions. Please talk to your drug worker about getting these directly from a pharmacy near you, or making arrangements to meet a drug worker in one of the Health Centres in Bolton, or one of the UCAN/Community centres near you. You should let your drug worker know what would suit you best.

Some GPs in Bolton have also said that drug workers can continue to meet clients at their surgeries as before, so you need to talk to your worker to find out if this is possible for you.

If, having had these discussions with your drug worker, then Bentley House is the only option for you, then it might be a good idea to talk about getting your prescription in an evening, or very early morning, so that you are less likely to meet the people who you would prefer not to meet.

Should you so wish, this is also an opportunity for you to talk about your care plan and your recovery journey with your drug worker. You might want to think about the Moving On service, about a detox programme (either community detox or in-patient detox), or even a rehab. All of these things are possible if you want to consider them. Clients who were previously in Shared Care can now access a wider range of interventions and it is worth talking about these with your drug worker.

I very much hope that this helps to ease your distress and helps to make you feel less anxious

Regards

Sandie

Sandie Saunders

Bolton Commissioning Manager

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